Kukla's Korner Hockey

From the get-go, Zubrus took Ovechkin under his wing. Zubrus told me that when he picked up Ovechkin for his first day of camp, the rookie asked him to stop by a sporting goods store on the way. A little confused, Zubrus asked him why. Answered Alex: "Because I'm going to need a shield for my helmet." Zubrus smiled and assured Ovechkin that the Capitals would give him everything he needed.
"All they ask of you is to work hard and play hard," Zubrus then told Ovechkin. "The days of supplying your own equipment and fending for yourself like you did in Russia are over."

The Hockey Hall of Fame inductions are just a few days away, which means it’s time to debate and argue over those who should be in the Hall but are not.
We’ll make a case for Mark Howe....
His career NHL statistics are 197 goals and 545 assists for 742 points in 929 games. His points-per-game average is better than the numbers for two of his contemporaries, Larry Murphy and Borje Salming, both of whom are in the Hall.

The issue of “legal” hits to the head, of course, has been fairly hot in recent weeks because of a handful of incidents that preceded the Williams hit.
“We showed the hits and then asked the managers if we were still in the right area with how we are handling it,” said NHL vice-president of hockey operations Colin Campbell. “It’s tough because no one likes see guys get hurt. But this is a physical game.
“We asked the question, too, are there more of these happening than years gone by, or because of television are we just seeing more? And we have to be careful because we’re not allowing low hits, if we eliminate all hits to the upper body, what’s left? Hits to the belly button? We can’t forget we are a physical game.”

The announced crowd of 14,835 at the TD Banknorth Garden for the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4 win was a bit generous on Thursday. I would bet the attendance was no more than 10,000.
It’s sad to see one of the pre-expansion six teams not only struggling on the ice this season, but at the gate. Attendance is down approximately 12 per cent for the Bruins this season. They have averaged 14,385 this season, which is way down in 24th spot in the league.

The Boston Bruins have quite a history of participation in our nation's conflicts.
Via the Boston Bruin Official Website,

Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer, the famous "Kraut" line, so-named because they were boyhood friends who came from the German community of Kitchener, Ontario, had led the Black & Gold to the 1940-41 Stanley Cup final win over the Detroit Red Wings -- and were poised to do so again.
They returned to Boston from Kitchener in the autumn of 1941 expecting to continue their dominance but the Japanese attack on December 7th, changed their world, and THE world, forever.

So what exactly does a scout do?
“Wanted: A person passionate about hockey, willing to put 80,000 kilometres on their car, watch 400-plus hockey games, be away from the family 110 nights a year, and must be organized,” O’Brien joked about how his job description might read.
“80,000 kilometres is 800 hours of my life in a car, and 700 hockey games at two hours each is another chunk of hours,” he said.

Hockey teams are worth more today than before the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) because player salaries have gone down to 54% of league revenue from 66%. Fixed player costs bring greater certainty to the bottom line, which in turn means buyers will pay a higher multiple of revenue to acquire a franchise. The average hockey team is now worth $180 million and makes an operating profit (in the sense of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $4.2 million. During the 2003-2004 season,

If the current scheduling rotation isn't altered -- please, Gary, alter it -- the Canucks, Oilers and Flames won't play the Leafs, Senators and Canadiens even once in 2007-08. Now that's a travesty in itself because it kills natural rivalry games but what's it going to do to the CBC's huge Hockey Day In Canada extravaganza?
The bread-and-butter of Hockey Day is the all-Canadian triple header. (This season it's Jan. 13 with the Canucks at Toronto, Habs at Ottawa and Oilers at Calgary.) You can bet your 50/50 tickets that Hockey Night In Canada is lobbying furiously to have its precious Hockey Day saved.

Some of these rumor sites have been talking rumors for two months now, and not a trade to be made.
It will never end, the rumors will continue because that is what they do, attract the gullible for reasons unknown to me.
The only place to recap the legit rumor talk, with sources, is Spector's site. Mr. Spector breaks down the possibility of a trade and tells you why it may or may not happen.

"I really felt, from the day I signed here, that it's going to be scratching and clawing to make the playoffs," Shanahan said after the 4-3 shootout victory in Florida during which the Rangers surrendered a two-goal lead in the second half of the game. "But if it's that kind of a season, once you do make the playoffs, you're a hardened team. You look at this division, you look at some of the teams who are improved, and it's going to be like this, just a battle throughout the whole season."